Norton to Fight with Senate Allies and President to Defeat Republican Attempts to Repeal D.C. Budget Autonomy Referendum

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement after House Republicans voted this afternoon to overturn a referendum ratified overwhelmingly by District of Columbia voters in 2013 that granted the District budget autonomy. Earlier in the day, the House Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee approved its fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill, which included the text of the House-passed bill.

“House Republicans were not satisfied with only passing a stand-alone bill to repeal the District of Columbia’s budget autonomy referendum today. They decided they needed two bills in one day against D.C. budget autonomy. This morning, I went to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee markup of its fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill, which included a rider that repeals the District’s budget autonomy referendum. If that were not enough, just a few hours later, I went to the House floor to vigorously fight against a stand-alone repeal bill with language identical to the appropriations rider. Both bills predictably passed on a party-line vote. Why did the House go two-for-one today? The Republican Senate does not have the votes to pass the stand-alone bill to repeal the District’s referendum, and the Obama administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) containing a veto threat on the stand-alone bill. With the Senate not on board, D.C. did not lose today—and Republicans did not win. We have just begun to fight, and two provisions against D.C. budget autonomy show Republicans know it.”